When It Rains
by StayAwakeAmber
Summary: Ronnie has been through alot, both her parents are dead and she has been adopted by the Gaskarths. Her life startes to go right again but can a bump in the road make or break her when she is falling in love with her best friend Jack feat. Alex Gaskarth Jack Barakat Rian Dawson Zack Merrick All Time Low.
1. alone

I sat in my bedroom in the foster home, tapping my fingers on the desk. I would be crying if I had any tears left, I'd cried my eyes dry. My parents had just died. Both of them. In a car accident. it had happened when I refused to go to my mum's friend's wedding, my mum had just said I was being a stubborn teenager. I wasn't, I just had a really bad feeling about going, eventually my parents had given up and gonw without me leaving me at home. it was about on hour later I had got a phone call from the police, saying they had both died. i had been sent to a foster home because i had no close family ho were willing to take me in and apparently it was very rare for a teenager to get fostered but there was some family who lived in America, there son had died recently, apparently he was about my age. I was waiting for the family to come and get me.

'Veronica!' I heard Mrs Jones call, she was the woman who ran the foster home. She was exremely bitter and got on my nerves. The only way you could describe her was she looked like a fish with a massive long thin nose, she also refused to call me Ronnie. Bitch. I grabbed my bag and lobbed it over my shoulder.

'VERONICA!' she screamed up the stairs 'The Gaskarth's are here!'

'Geez, I'm coming.' I said wandering down the stairs.

I had a feeling this family weren't going to like me. No-one really ever did. I had mid length brown hair that I had dyed ketchup coloured red my eyes were light blue, the colour of my mums eyes. I tended to wear band shirts, jeans and converse and my mom had always told me I wore far too much eye liner but she never did anything about it. She had loved the way I was unique and didn't give a fuck what people thought. She let me get a nose ring and thought it would be 'cool' when I asked if I could get a tattoo. I had got it after she died, it was a rose on my shoulder blade that had my parents' names around it. I got into the hallway and Ms Jones was standing with three people. They were a couple with a teenage boy who looked around my age. I noticed he was wearing a blink 182 shirt, I looked down at my My Chemical Romance one. I think I was going to like this kid. He had messy brown hair that had a black beanie pulled over it. He was wearing tight jeans and a pair of converse that matched mine. I walked over and an awkward silence settled over us.

'Well introduce yourself.' Ms Jones said to me.

'Oh, uh. Hi, I'm Ronnie.' I said, shuffling my feet awkwardly., Ms Jones scowled at me using my nickname. My dad had always called me Rum and Ronnie. That was his favourite ice cream flavour.

'Hello Ronnie.' Said the man 'I'm Peter, this is my wife Isobel and our son Alex.' he said and clapped his hand on the boys shoulder, who smiled at me.

'Hello.' I said and shook the parents hand, the boy Alex kept his eyes on his feet the whole time.

1 year later

'Do we have to go?' Alex wined as Isobel tried to comb his hair into a style, I turned round to look at her hopefully.

'Yes Alex, you have to.' She said with a sigh and continued to tug at his hair. I turned back to the mirror and continued to rim my eyes with liner. Isobel and Peter had never said anything about the way I looked. I don't think they really minded. I had really grown to love this family. Me and Alex had become particularly close. For the last year it had been me and Alex against the world. He has my back and I have his.

'I give up.' Isobel said throwing the comb down. I giggled and picked it up, starting to pull Alex's hair into the style he liked it. It took me a good 15 minutes of brushing his hair around to finally get it into the way he liked it. Isobel drove us to school and i stood awkwardly at the gates with Alex until the bell rang.

'I'll see you at break?' Alex said hopefully, I nodded.

'Definitely' I said and he winked before setting off into the school. I wandered off in the other direction just as the second bell went. Though it took me a good another 5 minutes to find my class. I slipped in the door and the whole class turned to face me, I felt my cheeks flush.

'Ah you must be Veronica?' Said the teacher spectically.

'Yeah, I uh, got lost.' I stuttered

'Well you can sit there beside Jack.' She said, a boy at the back looked up at the sound of his name and smiled at me. I slipped into the chair next to him and pulled the books out my bag.

'Hey Veronica, I'm Jack.' He whispered to me, holding out his hand.

'Call me Ronnie.' I said shaking it.

'Ronnie. Cool.' He said and turned back to his book. I looked at him a second before looking at my history text book. He had long-ish black hair that had blonde chunks bleached into it. He was quite lanky and wore battered converse. I looked at my matching pair and smiled. I think I was going to like this kid.

'Okay children, we have a surprise pop quiz!' Said the teacher, the whole class groaned and she scowled as she handed out the papers. I looked at it, Nazi Germany. I let out a bored sigh, how many times did we need to learn this topic? I started to write down the answers. When I got about half way through Jack leaned over and whispers 'Hey Ronnie, what did you get for six?'

'Austria.'

'Really? I put Germany?'

'Yeah but Hitler was Austrian but got rejected for the army so he joined the german one.' I said, Jack nodded, frowning.

'I'm not good at history.' He commented

'It's just facts.' I said smiling at him.

'I guess.' he said and shrugged.

'What classes do you like then?' I asked, eager to keep the conversation flowing.

'Dunno, music?' He said, I smiled.

'Yeah same.'

'Really do you play anything?'

'Bass'

'Wow, cool! I play guitar.'

'Awesome.' I said, he was grinning and I couldn't help but smile back. It seemed to be contagious. I leaned over and knocked my history book to the floor. A guy at the table next to me leaned down and picked it up.

'Thanks.' I said and smiled at him

'No problem' he replied 'I'm Daniel by the way.'

'Ronnie.' I said

'Did I hear you could play bass?' He asked.

'Yeah?' I said raising an eyebrow.  
'Well my band is looking for a bass player, if you'd be interested?'  
I thought about it for a second, I'd never met this dude before 'Maybe.' I said he shrugged and turned back to his page.

'You should do it.' Jack whispered, making me jump, I'd forgot he was there.

'Why?' I asked, curious.

'His band is amazing, The Last Second Chance they're called.'

'Hm, yeah I might but I just got here' I said, Jack shrugged and turned back to his paper just as the bell went. The morning passed quite quickly. Jack was in one of my classes and Daniel was in the other so I had people to talk to. I walked out my biology class with Daniel and noticed Alex walking out a door with some guy.

'Alex!' I called and he turned around, I walked over to him, Daniel following me.

'Hey Ronnie.' He said

'Hey, this is Daniel.' I said motioning to him. He smiled at Alex.

'Cool, uh this is Watson.' He said and I looked at the guy he was with. Whoa. He had dazzling green eyes and long dirty blonde hair.

'Nice to meet you he said

'You too.' I managed to choke out. We walked outside and I saw Jack sitting withh someone on the grass. He looked up and saw us, he smiled at me.

'Hey Ronnie!' He called and waved us over.

'Hi Jack.' I said and sat down next to him 'This is my brother Alex.' I said and Alex nodded at him.

'Oh, this is my friend Rian.' He said and the guy he was with smiled at us.

**RIAN**  
I still don't understand how Jack can develop a crush on a girl only after meeting her a few hours ago. There's something wrong in that boys head. Though I had to admit Ronnie was pretty hot. I looked over to Jack, he had THAT smile on his face. Oh shit. Last time he had smiled like that he had gotten his heart shattered.


	2. first day

**RONNIE**

Apparently Daniel had convinced Alex into joining some music thing after school so I was walking home alone. I was about to put my headphones in when I heard someone call my name, I turned around and Watson was walking over. I smiled at him as he reached me.

'Hey, you need some company?' He asked and we started to walk again.

'It would be nice.' I said as we walked out the school gates.

'So you live close then?' He asked

'Yeah, I'm over on 49th street.' I said

'Cool, that's a couple of blocks closer than mine I think, so ill be alone for some of my journey then.' I grinned at him, which he returned showing his perfect teeth. I completely melted, damn he was good looking. It was silent for a while and it was a little awkward but eventually the conversation started to flow and we were talking like we'd known each other our whole lives. We got to my house and he walked me right up to the door.

'Thanks for walking me home.' I said and smiled at him.

'No problemo.' He replied and I turned and opened the door. I was about to go in when he talked again.

'This might seem a little forward but would you maybe like to go out sometime.' He said awkwardly, staring at his shoes, I smiled.

'Love too.' His face lit up and I couldn't help but smile back. I walked inside my house

'Later Ronnie.' He said

'Bye.' I said and closed the door, my cheeks practically burning. I grinned to myself, I wandered into the living room, dumping my bag on the couch. Isobel and Peter wouldn't be home from work for a couple more hours. I grabbed a whole load of blankets and arragnged them in a little nest on the couch. I snuggled into them and put on the TV. Turning on the Disney Channel. Don't judge me. My mom and I used to do this all the time when my dad went away on business trips. I closed my eyes for a second and before I knew it I was asleep.

'Sweetie?' I hear Isobel's voice call and my eyes fluttered open. I groaned andf squeezed them shut again.

'What time is it?' I grumbled

'Almost 7, I was just going to say that dinner's ready.' She said, I laughed.

'Okay, ill be right there.'

1 year later

I slung my bag over my shoulder and clambered onto the school bus, Alex following me. I saw Watson sitting at the back with Dan, Jack, Rian and Jeremy and Riley who were the guitarist and drummer of the band. Oh yeah, after being pestered. A lot. By dan I had joined Last Second Chance as their bassist. I sat down next to Watson who dropped an arm over my shoulders, kissing my forehead.

'GOOOD MORNING!' Jack said to us and I smiled. He was such a morning person.

'So you guys excited for your road trip?' Watson asked and I rolled my eyes. He had been pouting all week because we were going to texas without him. Our bands were playing at a festival.

'Yep, its going to be super duper fun!' Alex said, deliberately rubbing it in his face.

'Yeah, to bad I won't be there.' He said, pouting more.

'Aw, cheer up sweetie!' I said ruffling his golden hair, he really hated that. He reached over and started to completely attack my head, messing my hair up and laughing evily. I grabbed his hands and pulled them off my head and he looked me right in the eyes, I felt my cheeks flush.

'Kiss, kiss, kiss.' Jerm, Dan and Riley started to chant. I rolled my eyes and kissed him quickly.

**Rian  
**

I looked over at Jack who was staring out the window an extremely pissed off look on his face. Poor guy. It must suck so bad to have to watch a girl you really like be happy with one of your best friends. The bus stopped and he grabbed his bag and hurried off down the bus. Ronnie frowned at him.

'What's up with him?' She said as we walked down the bus aisle.

'Headache.' I made up on the spot.

'Oh, will he be okay?' She asked

'Yeah, he'll be fine.' I lied as we jumped off the bus. Ronnie walked off, hand in hand with Watson, laughing together. Alex and I watched them go.

'She's absent-mindedly ripping his heart out.' Alex said.

'I know, he's had it done before.' Alex shot me a quizzical look. I sighed and explained the Jack's ex-girlfriend Christie story to him.


	3. what are friends for

'Road trip!' Jack said excitedly, jumping up and down on my bed as I jammed my case with clothes. He had come over after school. I'd forgotten to pack for Texas the night before.

'Road trip, road trip.' He continued to chant.

'Jack, shut up.' I said laughing and zipped my case shut. There was a car horn from outside, I ran to the window and saw the van waiting for us.

'They're here!' I squealed and I grabbed my case and pelted down the stairs. Bursting through the front door and to the van. Alex would already be there cause he went with Zack to get the van from Zack's dad. I opened the door of the van and saw Rian grinning at me innocently.

'What is it?' I said carefully.

'Well, you see, we didn't quite think this through so there's only one seat left.' He said, I rolled my eyes as Jack walked up behind me.

'Get in Jacko.' I said, he clambered in and sat in the last chair. I went in after him and sat myself down on his lap. Everyone laughed and the van started to move. I was almost thrown off Jacks lap.

JACK

I awkwardly tried to place my hands somewhere. Anywhere.

'What are you doing Jack?' Ronnie said 'you need to protect me.' She grabbed my arms and pulled them around her waist. I could feel my cheeks burning. She settled down in my lap and I managed to get the seat belt over both of us. A few hours into the long drive she fell asleep on my lap, her head tucked under my chin. I just sat, enjoying her presence so close to me. When I opened my eyes the truck was dark and everyone was asleep apart from Riley, who was driving. I must have been out for a while cause last thing I remember Alex was driving. I was about to fall asleep when I heard the sound of police sirens. That got everyone awake.

'Shit!' Ronnie muttered on my lap, if they saw her we'd all be arrested. Alex, who was sitting next to me popped out our seat belt quickly and shoved her on to the floor, covering her with a blanket and trying as best he could to conceal her with his legs. Riley pulled over and I yanked my seat belt back on. He rolled down the window as a cop walked over.

'Just a routine check.' He said 'license and registration please son.' He said and Riley fumbled for a second before handing it to him. He scanned it over.

'Good.' He said bluntly and scanned all of us before walking back to his car. I let out a sigh and realised I'd been holding my breath the whole time. Ronnie burst out laughing from under the blanket and we all joined her.

'I think I'll stay down here from now on...' She said through giggles.

'That's probably better.' Said Riley and he pulled off the curb. I checked the time on my phone, it was 5am.

'Where are we?' I asked yawning.

'Tennessee, we'll be in Louisiana in a few hours.' Said Jeremy

'We should be in Texas at about midday.' Added Zack and I smiled. That gave us plenty of time to set up our 10 man tent and get settled. The festival started the day after and we had to set up on our own stages and everything. We had the tiniest stages possible in the whole place but it was still an honour. Bands like New Found Glory, My Chem and Blink 182 were playing on the main stages.

'I'm hungry.' Alex stated.

'There's a service station about a kilometre away, we can stop and get some food.' Dan said.

'Good, I'm starving!' Ronnie said, shuffling uncomfortably under Alex's legs.

'Sorry Ron.' He said and pulled them up onto the chair. She smiled.

'It's fine but I think I prefer Jacks lap.' I smiled, trying to conceal my blush.

RONNIE

Jack might be boney but he was a lot more comfortable than the floor, the door of the van was digging into my back and my ass was numb from sitting here so long. I felt the car turn around, and stop. Alex opened the door I was leaning against and I fell backwards out the car. He laughed, and I stuck my tongue out at him.

'Sorry Ron.' He said and helped me up.

JACK

I clambered out the van behind Zack.

'Oh my god!' Ronnie squealed and I looked at her 'there's an arcade!' Everyone groaned and her face fell.

'Will no one come with me?' She said, no body moved. 'Jack?' She said hopefully, the cutest smile on her face.

'Fine.' I said and she grinned, bounding off towards the arcade.

'Get us some food?' I said to the guys and they nodded. I hurried after Ronnie, jogging over so I was walking with an equal pace. We got into the arcade and she smiled, she ran over to the claw machine.

'Win me something?' She said hopefully, pushing her nose up against the glass like a little kid. I laughed.

'Which one do you want?'. I asked and put a quarter into the machine.

'That one?' She said and pointed to a bear that was sitting on the top.

'Ill try, but this game is so fixed.' I said, navigating the claw to above the teddy. Ronnie slammed her hand down onto the button. The claw enclosed around the stuffed animal she wanted. I waited for it to fall out, it didn't. The claw picked it up and dropped it down the slide.

'Yay!' Ronnie said and pulled it out. 'Thanks Jack!' She said and hugged me. I smiled to myself and hugged her back. She grinned and skipped back outside, earning us a few looks from parents. I laughed and skipped after her, she was so wonderfully weird. We went back to the van, Zack was the only one there and he had his head inside the hood.

'What's up Zack?' She asked.

'Uh, technical difficulties?' He said 'I should have it fixed soon.

'Okay,' Ronnie said, still hugging the bear 'come on Jack, I think I saw a park!' She grabbed my hand and pulled me away. She ran over to the park, it wasn't much, some grass and a couple of picnic tables. We went over and sat on the grass under a tree. Ronnie slumped back and lay down, I joined her. Her phone beeped and she pulled it out, she let out a sigh and pushed it back inside her pocket.

'Something wrong?' I asked curiously.

'Nothing.' She said, I raised my eyebrows at her. She laughed 'you know me too well Jack.'

'What is it Ron?' I asked, she sighed.

'It's Watson.' She said, my heart gave a hopeful lift but my head thought differently. No matter how much I wanted her to be mine, I wanted her to be happy.

'What is it? Do you not like him anymore?' I said

'No, that's not it.' She replied, my heart dropped. 'I just feel like I can't be myself with him, like I have to be someone else to make him stay.' She said sighing.

'Sorry Ronnie.' I said and took her hand, she smiled.

'My parents were perfect together.' She said out the blue, a sad smile on her face 'they had everything in common, they were so happy.' She closed her eyes 'why can't I have what they did?' She opened her eyes again and they were watery and red. 'I miss them so much.'  
She took in a ragged breath. I pulled her into my arm, she rested her head on my chest and started to cry.

'Shhh, it's okay.' I whispered to her. She gripped onto my shirt and tried to stop crying. She sat up and brushed away the tears.

'Let's get back. She said and stood up 'Thanks Jack, you're so amazing.' I smiled.

'What are friends for?' I said, trying to conceal my sadness.


End file.
